GRIPPED (Romance Mystery & Suspense Box Set)

by Abbott, Alex

  She kept making small gasping noises as they flew. He went further out to sea than he needed to, overshooting his destination by a few miles. He came in low over the water and skimmed the surface as he turned back to the castle. He hoped Lena could see all the fish and sea creatures beneath the surface. This was his favorite place to come and fly. He would fly while the sea creatures swan beneath him. Once he reached the end of the world, he would turn back to the castle. He didn’t have time for that now but maybe he would bring her out again.

  If she wasn’t an evil wraith, he would anyway. He landed just outside the castle. Cate, Hera, and Zane were already waiting. Remus was with them. Lena slide off his back without any instruction. She was a quick learner. He transformed back to human. Again, she took his entire body in before averting her eyes. Troy didn’t shirk from her gaze. He had nothing to hide.

  “Your highness may I have a word.” Remus said excitedly.

  “Of course.” Troy bowed to Lena. “I trust the ride was to your liking?”

  Her face was flushed. “I liked it very much. I almost wish I had wings too. That was so wonderful.”

  Troy smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. I’ll see you all later at meal time.”

  Zane nodded. “I’ll see the queen to a room.”

  It was hard not to miss the look of open disgust Hera was giving Lena but Troy didn’t care. Let Hera be jealous. After a flight that nice, he didn’t want to let the queen ruin his good mood.

  Eight

  “You’re blushing princess,” Ellia said slyly as Troy walked away.

  Lena put her hand to her face. “Nonsense. It must have been the air on my face that makes me looked flushed.”

  “Had a nice ride then?

  Exhilarating. Exciting beyond her wildest dreams. Life altering. She could fly a few feet off the ground using magic but it was nothing like flying with Troy. Even after hearing them say multiple times that they were dragons, Lena could still scarcely believe it. She had seen all manners of shifters but never one like this. It was like hearing someone say they were a unicorn…and then seeing them turn into one. Being able to fly on him had been one of the best moments of her entire life.

  Troy was the most magnificent dragon. Queen Hera’s white dragon was beautiful but it the great beast was still very feminine. Troy cut an even more dashing figure than Tavis. Their dragons were almost identical but Troy was more striking. The star like markings made him stand out. Lena wished they hadn’t come back to the castle at all. She could have flown all day and night.

  “How did you get back so fast?” she asked Ellia. She didn’t want to talk about the flight anymore. She was sure she was quite flushed.

  “Fast?! It took us forever to get through the jungle. Allen carried me the last mile he was so fed up with my slow pace.”

  “You were as slow as molasses,” Allen grumbled. “It would have taken us until nightfall if we had to wait for you! I don’t know how we made it to the wall in the first place.”

  Ellia’s eyes darted to Zane for just a moment but Lena saw. So that was her motivation to keep walking in the harsh forest. Lena smiled to herself. Of course Ellia would pick the most brutish looking of the bunch to fall for. Oh well, there was no harm in it. Ellia collected men like most women collected fine china.

  “Thank you for the trip,” Lena said to Cate. “We’ll rest now and see you at evening meal.”

  “Wonderful,” Cate said. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the castle maids for assistance.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll see you to your rooms.” Allen said.

  Lena waited until they had reached their quarters to speak. She motioned for Allen to come into the room with her and Ellia.

  Allen looked down the hall before he stepped inside. “This is most improper.”

  “I would like to speak in private.” Lena sat down on her bed. “We are not in England anymore. I don’t think we’re even on Earth.”

  “Yes, you and Ellia have already shared your fanciful ideas with me.”

  Lena shook her head. “How can you doubt us now? You just saw them turn into dragons.”

  “Yes. I have never seen a dragon-shifter before but that doesn’t mean there are none on Earth. I have never seen a tiger in person either. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

  Ellia raised her hand. “I’ve seen a tiger. Now, I’ve seen a man turn into a dragon too. Lena do you have anymore magic yet?”

  She stared at her hands. “Not yet. I think it will come back slowly. Do either of you have anything yet?”

  Allen sat his sword down on the window sill and sat down with Lena. “I felt something at the wall. I think Sophia chose that spot with care. I’d bet they have magic behind that wall.”

  “I didn’t feel anything special at the wall,” Ellia said glumly.

  Lena reached over and took her hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll come back to you. Whatever the Council did, it packed a punch. I think this place isn’t stopping us from using our magic entirely.”

  “That’s it,” Ellia said eyes lighting up. “They sent us to a place where our magic wouldn’t work as well! They must have cast a binding spell on the entire tribe and then sent us here. If we can’t connect to the land easily, we won’t be able to get home.”

  Lena’s mouth fell open. “Of course! How could I not have seen it sooner? The land Sophia’s on might be the only spot in this world we can access our magic.”

  “We’ve never been separated from the Earth before,” Allen said thoughtfully. “I didn’t even think it was possible. If that is what they did, it would be unprecedented. They exiled us from our own planet!”

  “It would ensure that Sophia and her lost tribe can never hurt them again.” Ellia’s features were twisted with anger. “There must be just enough magic here for our glamour to hold and nothing more. We can’t even do parlor tricks.”

  “Except for Sophia.” Lena said. “She was able to do magic on the beach. There has to be a trick.”

  “The trick is she’s the most powerful fae ever to live.” Allen picked up his sword and turned it over. “I’m going to have to learn how to really use this. Without my magic, I won’t be able to protect you very well.”

  “I don’t think Prince Troy will let anyone get close to Lena,” Ellia said. “We are very lucky we ran into him on the beach and he’s taken a liking to our princess.”

  “He has not!” Lena said shocked. “Always trying to start trouble Ellia. We are lucky to have him but he was quick to accuse me when he saw me use magic. We have to be careful around these people. We are at their mercy without our magic.”

  “If we are on another world,” Allen said cautiously. “Not that I’m saying we are yet. Just if we were, how would we get back?”

  “We’ll have to work on that one,” Lena said. “We have to know where we are first. I can’t open a portal back if I don’t know the path.”

  “I’m terrible at teleports but I think Gram Swallow is one of the best we have,” Ellia offered. “He might be able to help us.”

  Allen made a noise. “He’s with Sophia.”

  “Oh,” Ellis said quietly. “I thought I saw him on the beach.”

  “You likely did,” Allen said. “You just failed to see him making his way into the forest with the rest of the group. Like that traitors guard who sided with Sophia.”

  “Gavin was a good guard.”

  “He’s always had feelings for your sister,” Allen scoffed. “He was a good guard so he could keep her favor and stay close.”

  “That traitor will be in for a nasty surprise when he realizes Sophia wants nothing to do with him,” Ellia said venomously. “I hope she rips out his heart and eats it.”

  “Here here!” Allen raised his sword. He slipped it back into its scabbard. “We need a way to ingratiate ourselves with our hosts. I don’t know how long we’re going to be here but I would rather stay put.”

  Ellia nodded. “Agreed.
There are only four options. We can either stay here, try our luck with Queen Hera, ask Sophia to take us in, or we can live in the forest ourselves. None of those sounds better than where we are now.”

  “Fine.” Lena stood up. “Allen tell the others that we’ll hold a meeting on the beach tomorrow. I’d like to see how everyone is doing after one night and let them know what our plans are.”

  Allen nodded. “Good idea princess. We don’t want them to run into the forest to join Sophia too.”

  He bowed. “I’ll see you ladies at dinner.”

  “What are we going to wear?” Ellia asked holding up the bottom of her soiled gown. “I wonder if we can get some of that beautiful cloth to fashion ourselves a new wardrobe.”

  “Cate said we should ask for whatever we needed. I know I’d like a pair of those pants she had.”

  Ellia was scandalized. “Are you mad?! It’s nice for her but it really isn’t proper for a lady to be in pants.”

  “Why not? We were walking in the jungle just like the men were except we were hampered by our gowns. Cate didn’t get her pants dirty as we walked.”

  Ellia looked down at her gown hem. “No but I’ll keep my gowns thank you. I don’t want to be confused for man.”

  “Without a figure like yours, I don’t think you’ll have a problem.”

  Ellia cupped her generous bosom in her hands. “That is very true. I’m going to ask the tailor to cut my new dress a little smaller in the bust. I could use more cleavage.”

  “Come on. We need to find something to wear for the night.”

  The women walked the castle halls looking for a maid but only found a knight. He took them to Cate’s room.

  “Ladies!” Cate was stepping into a dress with the help of a maid.

  “We need dresses for dinner.” Ellia eyed the material on the floor. “We need many clothes actually. We have nothing.”

  “Of course!” Cate scowled. “My brother’s never considered you would need more than one dress each I assume. So inconsiderate.”

  “I’d like the rest of my people to have clothes too,” Lena said. “We don’t need anything fancy. Just something that’s clean and presentable.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Ellia pointed at Cate’s dress. “I’d like something like that.”

  “And you’ll have it. Yasmin please bring the ladies a few dresses from my closet.”

  The maid nodded. “I’ll go get the dressmaker too and let him know that you’ll need new designs.”

  “You’re always one step ahead. And make sure to grab something very nice for them. Hera will be at dinner with us tonight.”

  When the maid left, Cate pointed to her bed. “If you two could have a seat, I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  Lena and Ellia took a place on her bed. Cate stood in front of them. “I know you two aren’t from here are you?”

  “We’re from England,” Ellia said.

  “Yes and England isn’t on Manna.” Cate didn’t wait for them to confirm or deny. “I don’t care. You two are very nice women. Lena I feel like I’ve known you forever and we have much in common.”

  “Ok,” Lena said carefully. She had just met the young dragon. She didn’t know where Cate was going but she didn’t want to make her host angry. “I like you too Cate.”

  “Good. You know we have a lot of problems in castle Blackfire.”

  Not that Lena had seen. Granted she had only been in the castle for one night. That wasn’t nearly enough time to see everything wrong with the castle. She may have chosen wrong if the castle was in trouble. She was glad she had called the meeting one the beach. Her people might have to be ready to leave for the forest at a moments notice.

  “What kind of problems?” Ellia asked suspiciously. “It looks fine to me around here.”

  “The problems aren’t readily seen by the naked eye,” Cate said sadly. “We have enough food, more than enough room to grow our clan, and fertile fishing around the castle. Our tribe has never known a more prosperous time.”

  “Than what’s the problem?” Ellia asked.

  “My brother needs a wife and my people need a king!”

  Ellia laughed. “That’s all. He can marry Hera. She seems to be very keen on him and she’s a queen.”

  Cate put her hand on her chest. “Never! Hera is evil. Besides he can’t marry Hera. It would mean war between Blackfire and Eternal Sun.”

  “What?” Lena said surprised. She’d never heard of a marriage causing a war. That was precisely why royals married their children to each other. Once there was a union, the tie between countries was strengthened and war was averted.

  “There are no other royals in Eternal Sun. If Hera marries Troy, she’ll want Blackfire to become part of her kingdom.”

  Ellia laughed even louder. “She’s the woman! If anyone’s country is going to be absorbed it would be hers.”

  “That’s not what would happen,” Cate assured her. “Hera would not go quietly. She would fight until Troy gave in to her demands.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re telling us this.” Lena said.

  “I think you should consider marrying my brother if you’re going to be staying in castle Blackfire.” Cate sat down on the bed. “Troy doesn’t know I’m asking you this and he would kill me if he knew I was. I just want you to think about it. I don’t even know if you’re staying and if you aren’t, please forget I said any of this.”

  There was a knock at the door and Yasmin came in with her arms loaded with dresses.

  Cate got of the bed with a smile. “You’re back! Look at these dresses.”

  Ellia looked at Lena with wide eyes. The conversation was over for now but Lena was reeling. Marry Troy? She couldn’t. It was very sweet of Cate to ask but Lena had a duty to her people. She couldn’t agree to marry some alien prince she had just met. Now, she was in delicate situation. Hera wanted to marry Troy and he needed to marry someone to become king. She needed Cate to find her brother a bride from inside the city. There had to be more eligible women besides herself. She was going to pretend to think over Cate’s suggestion. It was the only way to keep Cate happy while she figured out how to get her people home.

  Nine

  They were in Remus’s cramped office. Troy wanted to get back in the air. Stretching his wings had done wonders for his mood. Being back on the ground, he could feel the effects waning. It was going to get worse when he had to eat with Hera and try to pretend he didn’t despise the monarch. As beautiful as she was and as nice as she liked to play, she ruled with an iron fist. Unlike his place in castle Blackfire, Hera lived away from her people. They weren’t welcome to come and speak with her about their day or any problems they were having.

  There was animosity between their grandparents since dozens of people had left Eternal Sun Village for Blackfire. The problem grew when his mother married a man from Blackfire instead of Hera’s father. The cities still enjoyed a pretense of civility but only because Hera expected to marry Troy or Tavis. She didn’t care that Tavis preferred the company of men. A Blackfire prince was her birthright. It didn’t matter which one it was. The only reason she had set her sights on him of late was his claim to the throne.

  Troy knew what would become of his city if he let Hera get her hands on it. Increasingly, the only end he saw was war. All roads led to it. If he married Hera and she wanted to subjugate his people, they would go to war. If he didn’t marry Hera and denied her a royal mate, they would go to war. He didn’t see a way out that didn’t involve war. He was putting of any decision as long as he could. In the interim, maybe Hera would find someone else she wanted to marry. A long shot but not entirely out of the question. There were many men who would kill to marry her. One was bound to catch her eye eventually.

  “Why did you bring me here?” Troy asked Remus. His mood was ruined now that he had thought about Hera and marriage. Remus was wasting his time. The old man was searching through stacks of paper and old books.

  “Jus
t one more minute. I know its here. I was looking at it just before you got here.”

  That was likely to be years ago or just ten minutes ago. Remus was terrible at keeping track of things. Troy’s father had confined him to one room to help him stay organized but it hadn’t helped. Troy would be waiting all day.

  Remus held up a book triumphant. “Here it is!”

  He brought the old paper to Troy. Troy turned the book over and over. “What is this? The words are too faded for me to read.”

  “Don’t you remember this?” Remus asked dismayed. “This is the story about the ghost from the many places.”

  Troy looked closer at the paper. He could barely make out a small picture of a man in funny clothes. “Oh. I think I see it now. I haven’t seen this in ages.”

  “You were never as interested in the mythology as Tavis was,” Remus said wistfully. “Do you remember the story?”

  “Some…wait. I see where you’re going with this. I don’t have time for this Remus. Hera is staying at the castle and will be joining us for evening meal before she goes home.”

  “You have to make time for this! This England tribe is from another world Troy. I’m sure of it.”

  “How can you be sure?” Troy threw the book on the table.

  “The wraith created a wall in the middle of the forest. Where did all these people come from and how do they have the powers they do? They aren’t like the wraiths. They come from the sea and none of these people came from the sea.”

  “They do have strange powers.” Troy admitted. “The princess created some kind of force field using her hands. It protected us from an errant flame from Hera. The forest around us burned to a crisp.”

  Remus’s stroked his beard. “Powers like these are unlike any I’ve seen before. Could she repeat it for me here?”

  “I don’t think so. She seemed surprised she was able to do it at all. Her sister must have incredible power if she was able to create a wall using magic alone. No wraith has done anything like that before.”